Labour holds seat in Stretford and Urmston by-election

Labour has comfortably held on to its seat in Stretford and Urmston, in its second by-election victory in two weeks. 

Andrew Western, who is the leader of Trafford Council, retained the Greater Manchester constituency with a majority of nearly 10,000.

He secured 69.65% of the votes, up 9.34% on the snap general election three years ago, and with a 10.5% swing from Conservatives to Labour.

The by-election was triggered after Labour former minister Kate Green resigned in November to become Greater Manchester deputy mayor.

Nine candidates were in the running to succeed her as the MP for the Labour stronghold.

The by-election marks Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s second test at the ballot box and comes amid a cost-of-living crisis, soaring inflation and a growing wave of industrial action across the UK.

The last by-election, in the City of Chester two weeks ago, saw Samantha Dixon hold the seat for Labour after a contest was triggered by the resignation of Christian Matheson after complaints of serious sexual misconduct were upheld by the Commons standards body.

That was the first by-election since Boris Johnson’s dramatic exit from No 10 and the market chaos that came to define Liz Truss’s short stint in the top job.

Labour was expected to win, but the margin was bigger than in 2019 while for the Tories it represented the worst result for the Conservatives in Chester since 1832.